Child Development: Where Have We Been and Where are We Going with Our Knowledge?

Comer, James P.

The basic issues of child rearing and child development as well as the application of knowledge about child development are addressed in this paper. It is noted that to date children, their families, and their subcultures have been studied and that advice has been given to parents and to teachers about the child's development. Yet it is suggested that the findings concerning the kind of relationship a family needs with institutions and the society in order to be able to rear a child to become a competent and humane adult have been ignored. Because little attention is paid to the relationships between families and society, there is no preparation to look carefully at the kind of institutional and societal changes needed to keep up with changing technology. It is noted that children continue to be reared for the nineteenth century rather than the twentieth, and the impact of technological change has been ignored. One problem has been the fact that the response to change and challenge is to collect new knowledge rather than to apply tried and true knowledge; to be concerned about the intellect rather than the effect and the resultant quality of human relationships. Although some movement towards the implementation of policies that favorably affect the lives of children is noted, there remains a long way to go in developing the kind of interest, knowledge, and organization necessary to affect social policy. (Author/AM)